Following on from last week's blog, it was interesting to hear some views from readers about how the season is panning out.

Clearly it has been up and down for many, with the domestic side of things being particularly strange according to some accounts. Hopefully this warm weekend, following on from all that rain, should at least mean the grass is in full flow now.

One comment received last week, also made reference to how domestic sales are still being adversely affected by online retailers operating at an unfair advantage when to comes to price discounting. This is obviously an issue which isn't going away anytime soon.

Perhaps an indication that all isn't super rosy for those operating in the purely online sector though, came this week with the publication of the latest statistics from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

The stats from the body who track online sales described the month of May as "the worst recorded growth since the e-Retail Sales Index started" - with a way below average growth of just +1.9% year-on-year. The analysts put this down to the poor weather and no Royal Wedding or World Cup, compared to the same period last year - but is there more to it?

Might it give an indication that for some consumers, for some products, online isn't as appealing as it once was? Are savvy consumers coming back around to the more traditional concepts of customer service and retailers with expertise? We can but hope!

In fact something dropped into my inbox this week, from an unexpected source, which might give garden machinery retailers another excuse to feel optimistic about the state of the market.

Bizarrely I received a press release from the major online electrical goods retailer, AO.com. Surprisingly, I found some of its content actually quite interesting!

It appears that the company has run a survey, I'm guessing amongst their own customers on their own website, canvassing opinions on lawn care. According to their poll, which they say comprised of 2,000 people, they assert that "32% of Brits claim they don’t know how to cut the grass in their garden properly".

They also claim that "more than half (52%) of Brits aspire to create football pitch stripes on their own garden lawn but have no idea how to go about it."

Finally they say their research told them that "lawn envy is on the increase" with people wanting their "lawn to look good for their Instagram (19%) or to keep up with their neighbours (42%)."

Now how reliable this information is, I am unable to attest to. However, if we give them the benefit of the doubt, at an anecdotal level I think all the claims are pretty positive from the point of view of a specialist outdoor powered machinery dealer.

Let's presume there is this lack of lawn care knowledge out there amongst the general public and alongside this a desire to learn more. Not only that, but a desire also to actually improve the quality of their garden surfaces.

If that's truly the case, who could be in the ideal position to fulfil this desire by providing specialist tools with expert knowledge aplenty?!

Getting your name known locally as the go-to lawn-care gurus is now entirely achievable due the buzz you can generate via your social media channels. With this warm weather hopefully encouraging people to get out into their gardens, make sure you are doing all you can to shout about the amazing service and advice you can offer.

Let's be positive and take this survey at face value. If more than half the population is after a football pitch surface in their back garden, that's a huge customer base to aim at. And one which is going to require machines more sophisticated than they can purchase on AO.com.

Specialist agricultural content and marketing agency (and publisher of Service Dealer), The Ad Plain (TAP), are set to reveal the findings of a survey taken amongst dealer readers, which canvassed opinions on the UK tractor market and its brands.

The findings will be shared across TAP's social media channels over the coming month. If you want regular research finding updates you can follow @TheAdPlain on Twitter or Facebook.

Shaun Cooper, head of insight at TAP, said, "Our latest fact finding mission has seen us commission some research amongst UK machinery dealers (agriculture and ground care) regarding their opinions and perceptions about the market and brands. Individual dealers taking part in the research will not be named.

"The tractor market has seen ups and downs over the last few years with new players entering, and it is fair to say, disrupting areas of the market. Dealers are that crucial connection with the customer and we will be sharing this unique research over the coming month or so.

"The data was collected via a survey through Service Dealer earlier this year which sampled feedback from 48 dealership organisations across the UK."

A summary document of the findings will be available from TAP next month.

To register for this free document (late July release) click here

On Thursday 20th June 2019 at the Royal Highland Show, BAGMA’s Scottish President, Brian Sangster, handed over the Chain of Office of the BAGMA Presidency to Vice President Peter Arrand of Ripon Farm Services.

Peter Arrand (left) receiving the Chain of Office from Brian Sangster

Guests were invited to join the celebrations along with BAGMA's very own piper. A special cake was provided for Brian and the Chain of Office was duly passed over.

Brian has been BAGMA President for four years extending the normal two years to continue with a number of projects. He will continue to support Peter on the Bira Board of Management and as LE-TEC Chairman and BAGMA’s representative in Scotland for training and education working with Lantra and RHET (Royal Highland Educational Trust) amongst other activities.

Brian and Peter were presented with a special pair of BAGMA 100th anniversary cufflinks by Bob Chapman a past BAGMA and Bira president. Peter thanked Brian for his many years of service. Keith Christian, BAGMA Director, presented Brian with a gift from both BAGMA and its parent group Bira, followed by a bottle of whisky as a gift from Alasdair Straker. Keith thanked Brian for being part of the BAGMA team and steering a steady ship over the last four years.

Peter Arrand, formerly RBM and now with Ripon Farm Services following a merger, will develop his own portfolio as BAGMA President with a major focus on training and education and developing the BAGMA Council with a view to encouraging dealers to be more aware of the importance of apprenticeships and recruitment into the landbased engineering sector.

ISEKI UK & Ireland have recently appointed four new dealers.

Farm & Garden Machinery Ltd based in Bridgnorth are an established ATV/ Quad dealer with over 25 years’ supporting their customers. Alongside this the company has a continuously growing lawn and garden division supplying many well-known brands to their local area, They say the ISEKI range enables them to offer a higher range of diesel mowers to their customers.

Based in the heart of Fife the company have also appointed Meldrums - another well-established lawn and garden machinery dealer wishing to extend their range to include a diesel mower offering.

Hereford Mower Services based in the west of the county have over 40 years’ experience in horticultural equipment and supplies. Offering a comprehensive range of products, they have now extended their portfolio to include ISEKI machinery.

Finally, Forth Grass Machinery are a family run business supporting their local customers near Fife with machinery, parts and service. They say with the addition of the ISEKI range it enables them to reach a further customer base requiring higher specification diesel models.

David Withers, managing director of ISEKI UK & Ireland

ISEKI say they are still looking to expand their dealer network further, over the next few years to increase the customer service and support to end users across the UK and Ireland following a successful 2018.

Managing director, David Withers, expressed his delight with the company’s performance over the last year since the direct branch opened. He said, “Since setting up the company in January last year it has been very exciting to see the volume of dealers who would like to represent ISEKI and support our growing sales and share gain across the sectors we serve.

“The addition of the new dealers alongside our dedicated, longstanding partners has been instrumental in driving the market share and increases in machinery sales over the last year. We wish to continue with this for many years to come.

“Our aim is that everybody should be within 30 minutes of an ISEKI dealer as part of our strategy to specifically target the private homeowner’s who don’t have the tendency to travel far when looking to purchase a new compact tractor or mower for their property.

"We continue to have openings for dealers in some areas throughout the UK and Ireland which are still underserved. We would be delighted to discuss opportunities with interested parties who share our commitment to excellent customer service and relationship building”.

Don't forget, dealers can now nominate their own businesses to be in with a chance of winning a Dealer Of The Year award via the Service Dealer website.

As well as this, a dealership can also be nominated by customers, suppliers and manufacturers.

Winner of last year's Apprentice of the Year award, William Dart of Hayes Garden Machinery & ATVs with Martin Tyler, field service manager of award sponsors Kubota UK, plus Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke (l) and comedian Charlie Baker (r)

Since nominations opened entries have been taken from dealers large and small, specialising in all machinery types, located across the country.

However, there's still plenty of time for your business to be in the running for national recognition.

Many factors are taken into account when judging the categories, but the most important is customer feedback - which will once again be acquired online, between now and October. The judging panel will meet later that month to assess entries.

As last year, the core dealer categories for the 2019 competition are:

• GARDEN MACHINERY DEALER OF THE YEAR
• PROFESSIONAL TURFCARE DEALER OF THE YEAR
• FARM MACHINERY DEALER OF THE YEAR
• FORESTRY EQUIPMENT DEALER OF THE YEAR
• ATV/QUAD DEALER OF THE YEAR

There are also two other award categories:

• Star of The Dealership
• Apprentice of The Year

With these categories we want you to tell us who really goes that extra mile to help make your business a success. This is a great opportunity to nominate an employee who exceeds expectations within your business.

Visit www.servicedealer.co.uk/nominate-2019 to enter.

10 years ago, CEuk’s small team of three friends attended APF with nothing more than a folding table, gazebo and a selection of pruning handsaws, fast forward to 2019 and the brand is now recognised as one of the main specialists in outdoor professional products.

The British company say they continue to evolve whilst providing bladed products for arborists, forestry, landscaping, gardening, agriculture, survivalist, metal detecting and many more industries.

From the beginning the team say they have listened to feedback, acted upon it by making improvements and responding with new products that offer more benefits and at a reasonable price.

Founder Chris Gottfried said, “We are passionate about our products and the industries they serve; our customers are at the heart of our business and by attending various industry shows throughout the year we have an opportunity to get first-hand feedback and input from them. It is this feedback that has helped us to develop a product range that suits numerous industries perfectly and has allowed us to build valuable and lasting relationships with our customers.

“Looking forward a further 10 years, we want to be the best at what we do and continue to work as hard as we can to provide excellent products that meet the changing needs of our customers.”

CEuk products have been distributed by EP Barrus since April 2018 and Phil Noble, sales and technical manager at EP Barrus said, “Our partnership with CEuk has been a great success, the products have a wide-ranging appeal and the Barrus dealer network is the perfect cross-over between the professional and consumer customers that the products are aimed at. I am looking forward to seeing how the company continues to grow and the new products that are introduced in the future.”

Maschinenfabrik Kemper has announced it has established a strategic agreement with Scherer Inc. of the United States to better serve existing and future Kemper customers by offering kernel processors and rolls for various brands.

John Deere has been installing Scherer processors in their forage harvesters for the past year and Kemper is taking over the distribution rights for Scherer kernel processors and replacement rolls for other forage harvester brands in Europe, the Far and the Middle East as well as the CIS states, Asia and South America, effective immediately.

The new Kemper ProfiCrackers will be available for sale in season 2020

“This agreement allows us to expand the Kemper forage harvester product portfolio to better serve our customers,” said sales and marketing manager Georg Wigger. “After an in-depth evaluation of the global forage harvester business, we determined that Scherer products would most effectively enable us to serve our customers and expand our overall product line-up.

“The entire kernel processor product line will be fully supported by the Kemper dealer channel,” Georg continued. “Kemper will also integrate the full product portfolio into our sales, service and parts processes to offer world-class service to forage customers around the world.”

The current German Scherer importer, Tobias Häußer and Team, as well as the Italian importer, Agri Parts, will be integrated into the Kemper distribution network. They have been importing Scherer products for several years.

“It is a very logical step for Scherer to offer our products outside of North America with the full support of the Kemper organisation,” said Bob Scherer, President of Scherer Inc. “We are excited about the opportunity to work with Kemper in bringing our popular kernel processors available to these market sectors.”

Scherer will produce the new processors according to Kemper design specifications. All components are manufactured in metric dimensions for Kemper and are subject to strict quality controls. The processors are sold in the Kemper brand color under the product name ProfiCracker.

In addition to the new ProfiCracker, Kemper will also supply replacement rolls for Claas crackers and Krone conditioners. “We want to deliver all the requirements for excellent kernel processing while at the same time providing a significantly longer roll lifespan” said Georg Wigger. “We are also in discussion with other SPFH manufacturers about a possible collaboration.”

Processor rolls for current Claas and Krone forage harvesters will be available for sale on a limited basis for the 2019 harvest season. Kemper ProfiCrackers will be officially available for the 2020 season; however, a limited number of forage harvesters will be equipped with the new Kemper ProfiCrackers during the 2019 season.

STIHL has announced a new promotion on its iMow robotic mower.

With every purchase of an iMow from a STIHL iMow approved dealer, customers will receive an FSA 45 grass trimmer at no additional cost. The promotion will run until 31st December 2019.

The company say the new promotion is the ideal package for homeowners looking for a complete garden maintenance solution.

STIHL describe the Lithium-Ion powered iMow as one of the fastest robotic mowers on the market and say the FSA 45 cordless grass trimmer is suitable for straightforward trimming and edging work in outdoor areas, featuring a telescopic shaft that can be altered to eight adjustable positions.

Can-Am has received a silver award in the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’s (RHASS) Technical Innovation awards for its Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), developed specifically for its all-terrain vehicles in partnership with Bosch, a pioneer in this field.

As part of the award win, Can-Am showcased an Outlander MAX XT 570 in the Technical Innovations area at The Royal Highland Show which took place last week.

Outlander MAX XT 570

The system has been installed on Outlander and Renegade models, making them compliant with the new EU regulations (T3b category). To ensure the ABS performs optimally across all situations put in front of it, the company says the ABS system went through a comprehensive engineering programme that included more than 40,000 kilometres on a variety of surfaces including mud, snow, pavement, gravel and dirt.

James Dalke, BRP district commercial manager UK, said, “As a brand, we aim to be trend setters within the utility sector and the addition of ABS technology to our ATVs was the next logical step. Since it was introduced, we have received nothing but positive feedback.

"This award win validates the time and effort our R&D team committed to developing the technology and we are delighted that it has been recognised by such a prestigious award.”

Honda Lawn & Garden has recruited the help of wildlife author and presenter, Kate Bradbury, to be on their stand at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show to educate visitors on looking after bees and how to make bee hotels.

Kate Bradbury

Kate will be showing visitors on the Honda stand how to make safe refuges and nesting habitats for bees on the Tuesday and Friday of the show. Visitors are encouraged to visit the stand throughout the day to meet Kate and get involved to watch and learn how to construct them at home.

Kate said, "I'm delighted to be working with Honda to help spread the word about bees and other pollinators. In my workshops, visitors will learn about the wonderful world of solitary bees and how to use and manage a bee hotel. Plus lots more about our precious pollinators."

In addition, Honda Lawn & Garden will be giving away bee bombs to visitors who take part in the workshops. These are packed with the seeds of nectar producing flowers that have been carefully selected to benefit bees.

Steve Morris, head of Power Products for Honda (UK) commented, “We’re delighted to have Kate with us to provide an interactive and educational element to our stand. If you’re visiting the Show on the Tuesday or Friday please stop by and get involved.

“For those visiting on the other days, our stand is open throughout the show and you will be able to take a look at Honda’s extensive range of garden machinery including our pedestrian and Miimo robotic lawnmowers. We will also have our friendly Honda Lawn & Garden experts on hand to offer advice and answer any questions visitors may have.”

The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show runs from 2 to 7 July 2019.

A rare opportunity has arisen for an experienced Service Technician based at our office in Winsford, Cheshire.

The scope of the role is to provide general technical support of the Engine, Spare Parts and Home Power business for the UK/Ireland market.

The key areas of responsibility in this role are:

Provide technical support to distributors, dealers and OEMs by telephone

Create and deliver training programmes for the distributor and dealer channel in a classroom environment

Handle warranty claims and liaise with dealers and Head Office in warranty related matters

Updating of training material / technical documentation

Skill Requirements:

Good organisational skills in order to manage several tasks concurrently with frequent interruptions and changing priorities

Good written and verbal communication skills are essential

A professional telephone manner and strong interpersonal skills

IT skills should include the use of Excel, Word and Powerpoint

Good training skills will be beneficial for delivering dealer training

The successful candidate will have a minimum of 2 years’ experience within a Mechanical Engineering environment with focus on fault finding and repair with customer interaction.

If you are interested, please upload your complete application including your salary expectations on our career site:

https://careers.basco.com/job/Service-Technician/567981100/

Closing date for receipt of applications: Wednesday 10 July 2019

NO AGENCIES PLEASE

Garden Trader is a product and dealer search website/directory only for specialist garden machinery dealers in the UK. It has been designed to support and promote our dealer industry to consumers who are specifically searching for garden machinery products and services.

It costs just £96 + VAT per year to be listed and all revenues in 2019 will be reinvested into promoting the site online.

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